On Saturday night, Dick Vitale made a highly anticipated return to ESPN as the color commentator for the game between No. 2 Duke and No. 21 Clemson.

The audience behind him took the opportunity to express how much they missed him.

After overcoming various types of cancer and nearly two years without calling a game, Vitale received heartfelt welcomes and loud cheers from the crowd inside Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum ahead of the much-anticipated match against Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils.

As a 45-year veteran at ESPN, Vitale has become an iconic figure in college basketball, and he was visibly emotional during his first address to the audience.

“The welcome here has been absolutely incredible,” Vitale expressed. “I apologize for showing my emotions, but I can’t describe how thrilled I am to be here. I told (ESPN analyst) Cory (Alexander) earlier, this feels like my Super Bowl to sit courtside and call a game. It sure beats chemotherapy and radiation.”

In the past four years, since his melanoma treatment in 2021, the 85-year-old Vitale has faced lymphoma, pre-cancerous dysplasia, ulcerous lesions, a lymph node issue in his neck, and cancer detected on his vocal cords.

Before Saturday, the last game he commentated was during UConn’s championship victory over San Diego State in the 2023 NCAA tournament. After being declared free of cancer post-treatment, doctors still recommended that he rest his vocal cords, which are so crucial to his beloved broadcasting career.

He referred to being courtside for the Clemson versus Duke game as “heaven.”

Throughout his extensive health battle, Vitale has actively supported cancer research. In 2022, he was honored with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPYs, which is named after the late NC State men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano, a dear friend of Vitale’s who succumbed to cancer at the age of 47 in 1993.

Vitale also dedicated part of his pregame speech to those still facing the hardships of cancer.

“I want to say to all cancer patients out there… please, hear me: Stay positive, have faith, and keep fighting,” he urged. “I understand what you’re experiencing, and it’s tough. But being here is my Super Bowl. This is my championship, regardless of the outcome.”